- Active Topics
- Forums
- Create Topic
-
So Wessel-Louis(hubname),Sidewinder (lol) and myself along with wife and daughter were riding in a private game farm in the Waterberg this December. We were on a sand road (shuttup we were looking for singletrack). Riding down a hill around a right hand bend Wes turns on his saddle and starts shouting and pointing. He has my full attention but I can't quite make out what he is saying? "Brake" why? what...? I stop about 40m down the road as a small tortoise crossing the road comes into view.
"Dude, you nearly rode over a black mamba!!!" Well, Sidewinder and myself nearly rode into its reared head. Apparently about 15cm away. Fortunately daughter and wife followed Wes around the tail. Was extremely vigilant for the rest of the time riding there.
In this case i guess its best that you were not aware of possible danger besides the addition to your shammy creme, instinctive reaction avoiding the snake could have caused a crash and black mambas are renowned to attack rather than retreat.
Anti-venom is hell expensive and you need a specific one here and there. You do get 'do-it-all' polyvalent ones which cover most snakes. Only Tygerberg hospital and Red Cross Childrens hospital keeps it afaik. The stuff just ends up expiring in there fridges. Hospital care is mostly supportive, putting you on a ventilator if its a neorotoxic venom like Cape Cobra, paralysing your body so you stop breathing. Puffie's cause massive tissue damage and bleeding. Anti-venom has been known to cause more damage than good in some people. The one snake handler at Ratanga once was said to be allergic ti anti-venom.
Thanks for info, as scary as the thought of encountering a snake is and with walmer weather attracting them into paths which increases the risk for cyclists we need to be prepared on the way forward if a cyclist is bitten. Continuing cycling for help will only further increase the spread of toxins due to elevated heart rate, is this correct?
Darren please explain how you managed to release puffie, are you a trained herpetologists
Hi guys
Thanks fr ur experiences and anecdotes, wow must admit some had the hair on the back of my head standing up. Cippo thanks for your knowledgable constructive input especially the emergency numbers. To the cannondale puffie dude hmmm crazy man even trained herpetologists give puffies a wide berth with the correct equipment. Keep experiences coming, is there antivenin tht we as cyclists can carry to reduce the devastating effect in puffie case reduce tissue damage; Cippo you seemed to be the most informed on this topic or anybody else that can share information.
We have been having awesome weather in Cape Town for the last week and with that many walkers runners and cyclists trying to work away their Christmas pudding. I had the same idea and hit the Devil Peak to the Kings block house halfway up while strggling and cursing for having that 2nd helping of pudding; I don't know wht made me look more intensely at wht I initially thought was branch lying into trail turned out to be the biggest Puffadder I'd seen in my life. At that point I had lots of 'what ifs' as I was alone got me thinking ' Has there been many hubbers encounters with snakes? I understand we invading their terrain for our pleasure. Can we do anything to increase our survival chances in the unlikely event of a Snake bite incidence. Unfortunately no phone to take pics.
I would be interested in the general hubbers views, am I being paranoid bec of my encounter.
Some Names can be very funny, I know of guy who did the european contiki tour great fun for him because his name was FAGMIE and even after introducing himself woman found it strange to call him because often it came out sounding like '**** Me' and it get funnier because his surname is Du TOIT Eventually called him Vibrator, would 'vibrator' be an inappropriate hubname?
Txs to everyone, payment made, hoping to collect this morning. Scott Scale 910 it is.
Hi
I had the same dilemma sc tb great bike with a fantastic pedigree the pyga patrick morewood factor chose pyga and I must say the pyga has something special fr me everytime I ride best described in 3 words - a stupid grin.
Good luck wth ur decision.
Hectic
Sorry for your loss Robin
Littering of empty gel sachets unfortunately is a common phenomenon amongst cyclists and is not unique to City Cycles. I agree with the message conveyed but the manner in which the generalisation of all City Cycle members being a chops as per your topic line I'm afraid is just wrong. Name and shame but be specific to individual and not the organisation e.g. City Cycle member wearin race 555555 u Chop
Hi
There is a giant advanced 2013 available on the Hub fr 26k the Scott 950 over priced and under specced, last year could get 940 new with better components than 950 fr 22k. Scott lower number denotes better bike the 910 is their top model.2014 new bikes are being hit by the devalued rand therefore better to buy 2013 model 2nd hand or new at lbs.
Hi
I hv a Garmin 800, Garmin 610 for running and aSuunto t6d, I liked the look of suunto.
All three are great for different purposes but if you need mainly cycling the Garmin 500 or now 510 best. The 800 great but many features I don't use or need.
Cana
Hi
My advice buy the best bike you can afford, if you can afford 12k don't buy the 7k bike for whatever reason; the reality is is mtbing is as popular fr a reason it is fun, addictive, satisfying and more importantly contribute to a healthy lifestyle. So if you start mtbing you are bound to get hooked and with that comes the need to improve equipment. So the 12k bike will cost you 15k as you won't get more than 4 fr 2nd hand 7k bike after a year,
Buy the bike you will love to look at and ride
Hi
I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, it's really scary as I recall the many times I've been alone on that stretch of rd, it could Easily have been me.
It seems these guys are not random bike thieves they seem to be Very selective and specific about the bikes they target.
I agree this needs to be highlighted at the highest level; as we go into argus training period this popular rd could be the scene frm my worst nightmares- wife waiting for me at home to be greeted by police informing her I was killed in a bike robbery. Sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
I'm in support of any initiative to highlight the safety plight of cape town cyclists.
Cana
2
The input cost of the producer, in this case the farmer, could not be held responsible for sudden price increases of foodstuff because the supermarket would have entered into a contract with a supplier or big farming operation months ago. The price WW would have paid for their watermelons would have been fixed about 6 months ago. Such a contract would stipulate things such as price, quality, quantity and date of delivery. So even if the prizes of seed, fertilizer, labour and chemicals rose by 50 % in the last month it should not have an immediate effect on food prizes. I said should... it gives the big retailers a nice excuse to put prices up immediately though. Watermelons are now hitting the market big time as producers in areas subject to frost in August and September are flooding the market, hence the seasonal drop in prices. Supply and demand.
With regards to clamp down on imported food: All we as producers ask is to be placed on a level playing field with our heavily subsidized EU, American and Latin American counterparts. We don't want government grants we just seek import tariffs to protect our local industries and provide job and food security for our nation.
Maize prices are actually expected to drop as can be clearly seen on the saffex futures. The January contract for white maize closed today at R2930.00 while July closed at R2210. Their is currently a bit of a short squeeze in the market as exports were good and physical stocks are tight. The market is clearly expecting a good crop and that the squeeze will be lifted. The CBOT price of maize which dictates prices all over the world are also well down from its record highs of about a year ago as America is yet again harvesting a bumper crop and world supply and demand numbers are returning to normal levels.
Thanks for this insight into the rationale behind pricing models of big retailers and producers
A great aspect of a network like the hub is there is a diverse group of expertise able to shed light on any Dilemma.
Thanks guys and wishing 2014 brings with it the many joys and pleasures life has to offer.
2
Just finished my bike; added a black chain and a Jerome Clementz carbon handlebar:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/11350949854_f515d981c9_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/11351004273_99f85886c6_c.jpg
more pics: http://www.vitalmtb.com/community/Doezel,27415/setup,23976?ptab
Well done and congrats she looks stunning, like the color coded gaming as well.
What was the eventual cost of the total build, I realize you not in SA, it will give us an idea of how competitive our local prices are.
Now she needs to get dirty.
Cana
That's is an ugly saddle bag.
Hi
I'm not familiar with copyright and trademark laws and it's infringements, my question is simple...can a corporate organization register a public name like Roubaix, Paris,New York etc these are names of towns or cities which they have modeled their bikes names on? As these names are in the public domain how can specialized claim this to be an infringement. I'm sure if one was to visit the town of Roubaix, you will find various shops like Roubaix bakery, Roubaix dry Leander's maybe even a Roubaix cycle shop...does specialized have the right to sue any of the owners???
You should put a single bed in that dungeon for yourself
Yes, I got a queen bed with ensuite in dungeon for those nights buddies too tired to drive home or wife says I'm spending too much time on bikes must get my nocturnal pleasures with them as well ;-)
Hi guys
What's the views on dropper posts, I'm not totally convinced they have perfected them, my fear is going fast down a rocky technical single track and the saddle drops more than needed resulting in a face plant..I feel 100% confident with my Thompson post.
What's dropper posts users views..
Cana
It's Not the wheel size but the skill of the Rider, he would rip up any course even if he had square wheels..respect man.
Hi
I had the same experience, you will Get stronger and you won't need the granny I promise. it takes some time to adjust
Haha, you know what's indispenable it seems.
Sure prices have gone up big time, but I'm not sure how you could have got the come out at R32k even in March when the rand was 8.8 to the dollar.
I always had plans of getting the pyga prob not in march. at the time my lbs had a new parts kit from vida1 for sale as customer only wanted frame, i grabbed it as the vida was very well specced and the total parts price was a fraction of the individual prices, swapped crest for arch ex wheels and voila my Pyga with xt components emerged. Sold my anthem which I had fr year and the nett effect was 15k..which I paid gladly. So yes I got very lucky hence my concern if stolen would never afford to replace.
Snakes on a trail
in The Bike Room
Posted
Shite dude that's like ones worst nightmare.